U.S. CDC Raises Canada Advisory to Level 4: Avoid Travel

The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Monday raised Canada from its Level 3 to Level 4 warning label, telling Americans to “avoid travel to Canada” over COVID-19 concerns. 

“Avoid travel to Canada. If you must travel to Canada, make sure you are fully vaccinated before travel,” the CDC’s warning now reads. 

“Because of the current situation in Canada, even fully vaccinated travelers may be at risk for getting and spreading COVID-19 variants.” 

Canada is now one of about 80-plus destinations that fall into the Level 4 warning category, which is determined by COVID-19 infection numbers at the destination (Level 4 includes countries with more than 500 new cases over the past 28 days per 100,000 population). Others in that category now include Belgium, Croatia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, and more. 

Canada, like so many other countries including the United States, has seen an uptick in COVID-19 cases in the most recent Omicorn surge. According to Worldometers, Canada reported 25,000 new cases on Jan. 9, 32,000 new cases on Jan, 8, and 44,000 cases on Jan. 7, numbers that are actually lower than what was reported in the earlier days of 2022. 

The United States, for its part, reported 400,000-plus cases on Jan. 9, also according to Worldometers, 560,000-plus on Jan. 8, and 870,000-plus on Jan. 7.